The capacity of product dispensing or vending machines may obviously be increased by adding additional columns and increasing the width of the machine cabinet. However, the width of the cabinet of the dispensing or vending machine is limited as a practical matter due to space considerations at the installation site and the desire on the part of the manufacturer of the machine to utilize existing cabinet structures for economy. Therefore, more efficient use of cabinet depth is often times the only practical way to increase the capacity of the machine and has led to the development of multiple depth vending machines.
One form of multiple depth vending machines is that of a double serpentine arrangement of columns or guide tracks for holding and dispensing articles. It has been found, however, that there is some cabinet space lost particularly in the rear of the cabinet by this arrangement, and to obviate such a loss of space is this invention directed.
The efficiency of such a serpentine arrangement also depends to a certain extent upon a mechanism for controlling the dispensing of the articles at the lower end of each column or guide track, these mechanisms are normally coin activated and controlled. This type of mechanism normally holds the forwardmost article in each column in place until the mechanism is coin activated to release that article, the next adjacent article then being held, and released in like manner, with only gravity aided discharge.